There really needs to be worldwide policies implemented concerning the chronic, widespread use, and abuse, of antibiotics, especially in farm applications. I love hearing how scientists are working together, Tweeting and blogging, sharing info while collaborating on this problem to solve it quickly - science isn't so slow, dull, and boring at times!
But how do pathogenic E. coli arise in the first place? This is where bacteriophage come in. The bacterium in this outbreak, currently recognized as strain O104:H4, makes Shiga toxin, which is responsible for the severe diarrhea and kidney damage in patients whose E. coli infections develop into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The genes for the Shiga toxin are not actually bacterial genes, but phage genes being expressed by infected bacteria. So when an E. coli bacterium gets infected with a Shiga-toxin-producing phage, it becomes pathogenic to humans.
Our use of antibiotics may be helping those viral genes to spread. If bacteria are exposed to some types of antibiotics they undergo what is called the SOS response, which induces the phage to start replicating. Active replication of the phage causes the bacterial cells to burst open, which releases the phage. It also releases the toxin, which is why antibiotics are not usually used to treat E. coli infections (see 'Europe's E. coli outbreak: time for the antibiotics?').
As Science went to press, they had not been able to find the source of the deadliest outbreak of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) bacteria on record. Yet they are getting to know the pathogen causing it in unprecedented detail, aided by an armada of scientists around the world who are analyzing available genomic data on the fly and, via tweets, wikis, and blogs, disseminating results online. “I am really surprised and impressed at how fast this is developing,” says Holger Rohde, a microbiologist at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. “I think it shows how relevant this platform can be to science.”
Although E. coli are a natural part of the human gut flora and usually not pathogenic, the strains classed together as EHEC produce the dangerous Shiga toxin that enters the cells lining the gut and inhibits protein synthesis. The resulting cellular destruction leads to abdominal cramping and eventually bloody diarrhea. In some cases, the toxin also attacks the kidneys, triggering the potentially fatal hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). During the outbreak that started the second week of May in northern Germany, more than 2300 people had become infected as of 7 June, more than 600 had developed HUS, and at least 23 had died.
The picture emerging from these first analyses is surprising: The German strain's DNA sequence revealed the microbe not to be a typical EHEC bacterium. Instead, the pathogen shares 93% of its sequence with EAEC 55989, an E. coli strain isolated in 2002 from an HIV-positive patient in the Central African Republic suffering from chronic diarrhea. EAEC stands for enteroaggregative E. coli, which can form biofilms and are better at colonizing the human gut than EHEC, says Lothar Beutin, head of the National Reference Laboratory for E. coli at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin. They usually do not carry the gene for the Shiga toxin, however. “The sequence really looks like a typical EAEC that has acquired the Shiga toxin gene,” Beutin says.
One lesson from this outbreak, Rohde says, “is that we just do not know enough about the flexibility of bacterial genomes, about how they constantly change.” Until we do, researchers warn, it is also hard to judge whether the German outbreak is an unlikely tragedy or something that could happen again elsewhere very soon.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
My GP from Boulder is very reluctant to prescribe antibiotics because of concerns like this, but human use is a drop in the bucket compared to modern agriculture use.
Side question: When stories like this break, do you decrease your raw plant consumption? Cook as much as possible, try to clean it more thoroughly? I have actually been eating more raw vegtables but just because I am craving them and I tend to think the press tries to over-dramatize the effects.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
I only change my eating habits if a specific item has been identified as something that I may have bought, or a store from which I may have purchased food. I buy organic as much as possible (organic food has been shown to have lower bacterial contamination) and I always wash my fruits and veggies really well (hubby gets annoyed that I take so long - for example, I wash berries one at a time). The only meat I don't thoroughly cook through is steak, but we eat that only once or twice a month (we're chicken, pork, sausage, fish, beef roasts, and lamb chop eaters).
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
steak = rare
Lamb chops = rare
pork chops = pink
Chicken = throughly cooked
fish depending on the presentation = raw to barely cooked
Elk/Venison = rare to medium rare.
Berries = wash by the handful
Apples = a quick rinse
potatos - a quick rinse
OMG Grady! You'reGonnaDIE!!!! :VeryScared: rofllol (I can't believe you wash your berries by the handful - disgusting!)
I'll keep that list handy if you ever decide to come down and join us for dinner!
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
